To the left, peace isn’t merely a formal political framework but a profound
process of reconciliation that requires each side to show respect for the
culture, tradition and history of the other side.

I’ve been asked what the concept of the left means in Israel. I thought I could answer
this question easily, then I realized it was a tough job.

It’s easy to say what the left isn’t. The left is the opposite of fascism — the
doctrine that the nation is the most important thing and people are merely cells
in the national body. The left is also the opposite of Orthodox Jewish religious
law, which states that one does not save the life of a non-Jew on the Sabbath.
The left is also the opposite of communism in its Soviet form, which turned
people into cogs in a destructive machine.

The left is human. The left believes that human beings are the most important
thing. The state is based on an agreement among all its citizens, and the state
has no mystical, national or religious significance. To the left, nationality is
a cultural and political setting that gives people a feeling of belonging,
according to their own free will.

The difference between the left and the right is mainly the difference between
spiritual and emotional, from which the practical differences stem. Leftism is a
worldview that encompasses all areas of life.

In Israel, because
of the special circumstances under which the state was established and exists,
the difference between left and right isn’t the same as in other countries. In
the broader world, the concepts of left and right are largely defined according
to differences in social perception. In Israel they are defined first of all
by one’s relation to peace and occupation. A person cannot be a leftist if he
supports a regime of occupation and repression.

The left desires peace. It sees
Israel’s second nation — the Palestinian Arab
nation — as a brother nation. It utterly rejects the occupation, which is
inhuman by its very nature. The left strives for Israeli-Palestinian peace. To
it, peace isn’t merely a formal political framework but a profound process of
reconciliation that requires each side to show respect for the culture,
tradition, history and desires of the other side. This will be the rule in the
comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace that follows.

Since the left believes in every nation’s right to freedom and independence, it
strives for coexistence between
Israel’s two nations, each in a state that
expresses its political and cultural essence. To the left, the settlement
movement is a moral and political disaster because its main goal is to take
control of the entire country, prevent peace and carry out ethnic cleansing. The
left believes that the border between the two states should be open, in the hope
that relations between them will strengthen.

The left wants Israel to be a
member of the family of nations, faithful to international law and a full
partner in the fight for a world order that prevents war and civil war, saves
the planet and ends disease, hunger, suffering and ignorance.

The left also supports social justice and mutual responsibility. Every person
has the right to use his or her abilities to the fullest. Below is a safety net
that ensures a respectable standard of living for the weak, the poor, the
handicapped and the unfortunate.

A leftist society is based on equality between men and women, Jews and Arabs,
Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, members of all religions and members of none, with no
discrimination based on sexual preference. A leftist society ensures all
children the possibility to live under equitable conditions; every child has the
right to a modern, egalitarian education open to the world. A leftist society
treats refugees and labor migrants compassionately, integrates them into the job
market and allows them to live as human beings.

A leftist society is based on the complete separation of religion and state. It
has civil marriage and divorce, with every person possessing the right to join
or leave any religion. All men and women live according to their own faith.
Every person who shares in the fulfillment of this ideal in spirit and action,
every single day, belongs to the Israeli left.